# My Record Collection
Written: 2023-01-08
Updated: 2023-12-02
There's a great scene in High Fidelity where John Cusack's
character (Rob), searching for the meaning to life, love,
and successful relationships, decides to reorganize his
massive record collection. His friend Dick walks in and
sees the chaos:
Dick: "What is this, chronological?"
Rob: "Nope"
D: "Not alphabetical"
R: "Nope"
D: "hmm"
R: "Autobiographical"
D: "No fucking way"
..
R: "If I want to find the song Landslide by Fleetwood Mac,
I have to remember that I bought it for someone in the
fall of 1983 pile but didn't give it to them for personal
reasons"
D: "That sounds... comforting"
R: "It is"
---
Consider this my digital autobiographical reorg. I wouldn't
attempt it in real life since I don't want to remember
(or explain to others) the timeline, but I'm a sentimental
person and revisiting the origin of each album feels like
the perfect Sunday afternoon.
If you enjoy this style writing, you may enjoy my year-in-songs
phlog (which gets more active updates):
gopher://alexkarle.com/1/yis
---
Some high level stats first:
* First Record: 2012-12
* Total Records: 70
In general, my collection grows a LOT on Christmas, as
my parents and siblings get me new records (sometimes
from a list that I'm looking for but more recently I ask
them to surprise me with their favorites!).
---
## Post-College / Early Adulthood
2023-12-02: Vulfpeck: Thrill of the Arts
Jennie picked up this up on a repressing as a surprise gift
for me. Definitely my favorite vulfpeck record of all time.
Fun fact, "Welcome to Vulf Records" was the first song I
played in my car; I bumped it on the first test run to test
the speakers. Jennie, my dad, and the salesman all cramped
in to the tiny thing :) Back pocket is of course a classic
for jamming with Matt too.
2023-04-03: Lake Street Dive: Bad Self Portraits
This was all Jennie. "You know, we don't have any Lake Street
Dive!". We've been fans for a long time--I've got fond memories
of listening to "Better Than" together in college. Later we
saw them at Levitate some years back. Bad Self Portraits is
such an awesome album. Highly recommend a listen!
2023-03-12: Peach Pit: You and Your Friends
Jennie and I picked this up on a restock/repressing. It's got
sooo many great songs on it from my jam-tuesday days (Brian's
Movie was a favorite of Matt and mine). Being So Normal is
still the house favorite, but this is close behind.
2023-03-07: Snarky Puppy: Empire Central
What an absolute beast of a record. The largest in my collection
so far (3 disks), and every minute of it is amazing. A birthday
gift from my parents. We'll be going to see them in April!
2022-12-25: Tame Impala: Currents
2022-12-25: Fleetwood Mac: Rumours
2022-12-23: Harry Styles: Fine Line
2022-12-20: Tower of Power: 40th Anniversary (Filmore Auditorium, SF)
2022-12-18: Yes: Close to the Edge
Christmas 2022 was a great year for my record collection :)
It started with a work secret santa where Sam bought me
the Yes album (which I've been loving, Jennie not so much).
Manuel bought me the Tower of Power record, which is fun to
put on. I bought Jennie the Harry Styles record (which, I
admittedly like a few tracks on :)). Sammy bought me Fleetwood
Mac (and wow, so many hits I know!) and Mom and Dad bought
me Currents (likely because Jennie told them I was super into
Tame Impala this year--they thought it was tah-may impala!).
2022-11-??: Goose: Dripfield
GOoooooooose! Jennie picked this up for me after I went on
a huge Goose kick (seriously, look at my Year in Songs phlog).
She got pretty into them too, so this one has been fun to have
on hand for dinner parties and game nights :)
2022-??-??: Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon
2022-??-??: Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes
I'm pretty sure I picked up these for myself sometime in 2022.
Fleet Foxes was just a find at Barnes and Noble for a cheap-ish
price (and I knew a couple songs on it)--it's got great winter
vibes. Dark Side is... well an album I suspect most record
collectors have :) I was super into Dark Side in high school,
so it was about time to pick it up!
My discovery of Fleet Foxes has a fun story behind it; when I
was in high school I was in a band, and we were playing a talent
show with another band. It was the day of the show and their
drummer was sick. They asked if I could sit in. I remember
them frantically trying to explain Ragged Wood by Fleet Foxes
and Reptilla by The Strokes to me "just follow our lead! it
slows down in the middle!" etc. I never had to perform it
because the drummer got better in time, but I've loved that
track ever since!
2022-02-15: Dr. Dog: Shame, Shame
~1 year after I got REALLY into this album (and playing a few
of the songs like Shadow People all the time while jamming with
Matt [1]), I finally came back in stock.
[1]:
gopher://alexkarle.com/1/jam-tuesday
Shadow People really was the catalyst for all of jam-tuesday.
We were coming home from our grandparents farm (or maybe hiking
monadnock, maybe both), and he's DJ-ing in the car. Shadow
People comes on and I was shocked he knew the band (not many
people do/did--they blew up on TikTok some time later).
If my memory holds, playing shadow people was one of the original
goals of our first jam, which turned into a routine.
2022-??-??: Dr. Dog: Live at the Flamingo Hotel
Jennie ordered this for us a few months after we saw them live
in NYC. It was such an amazing concert, we were obsessed with
them for the next few months.
2022-02-??: Vulf: Wong's Cafe
A surprise from Jennie. We're big vulf fans and they were doing
this "we'll only ever press this album once" shenanigans, so
we picked up the Corey Wong special (in hindsight, might have
preferred the Joe Dart or Antuan Stanley ones.. but this is
still a fun instrumental).
2021-12-25: Parcels: Night and Day
2021-12-25: Artic Monkeys: AM
2021-12-25: Manchester Orchestra: The Million Masks of God
Parcels and Artic Monkeys were definitely Christmas gifts, and
I'm pretty sure Million Masks was too (I don't remember buying
it myself). Sammy gave me AM, I'd guess Matt gave me MO, and
I'd guess Mom and Dad got me Parcels (at Matt's recommendation).
Great albums all around. AM is great for dinner parties (everyone
knows Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High and Do I Want to Know).
Parcels was one of the most-listened to albums of winter while
driving to the Rock Gym with Jennie (Coming Back & Famous, especially).
Million Masks is just a great addition to my MO collection :)
2021-10-20: Dr. Dog: Psychedelic Swamp
Before seeing Dr. Dog live I decided to expand my repertoire
beyond Shame, Shame. For some reason (maybe because Bring My
Baby Back was one of the first songs I ever heard by them
along with Shadow People--shoutout to Elise from Croo for
the intro), I decided out of their many albums to give
Psychedelic Swamp a listen.
What a weird album; I was hooked! The lead in guitar riff of
Golden Hind; the triumphant exit of Good Grief. This was
also, coincidentally, one of the few records they had in stock
(my first choice would have been Shame, Shame), so I ordered
it. No regrets. Jennie really came around to it too!
2021-06-??: Peach Pit: Being So Normal
Was there a more influential album during Covid lockdown
that reminds me more of Jam Tuesdays with Matt? I don't think
so. I remember ordering this with him sitting next to me.
They had just announced another pressing, and we had finished
our jamming for the evening. It was pricey but boy have we
played it enough to get our moneys worth.
Still my favorite Peach Pit album (Alrighty Aphrodite, Drop
the Guillotine, Chagu's Sideturn, Techno Show, Tommy's Party,
the list goes on). We got to see them live in 2022-12, and
they were just as good as the record.
Alrighty Aphrodite went on to be a recurring song in jams
with friends (Todd and Alice especially).
2021-02-09: The Black Keys: Brothers
2021-02-09: Vampire Weekend: Contra
2021-02-09: The Head and The Heart: Self Titled
2021-02-09: Led Zeppelin: IV
"Four Albums for Four Years". Jennie and I have for the past
few years done joint gifts together. We buy something for
us, since that's what we're celebrating! So for four years
we bought some new records. Head and The Heart is a special
band to our relationship--within the first month of dating
Jennie bought me tickets to see them at Smith college for
my birthday. They were also playing in the background
(Lets be Still) when I asked if she wanted to "make it
official" (and be my girlfriend). The self titled album
is still my favorite of theirs. Jennie picked up Contra
as her personal pick (she's a big Vampire Weekend fan),
and I picked out Brothers for us (thinking she'd like it /
having limited options to select from our local record store)
and Led Zeppelin IV because it's an absolute classic
and it's got IV in the title!
2020-12-25: Wooten Chambers Franceschini: Trypnotyx
2020-12-25: Vampire Weekend: Father of the Bride
2020-12-25: Hozier: Hozier
I'm reasonably certain these were all Christmas gifts
for 2020. Sammy definitely got me Hozier (she's a big fan,
saw him live in Colorado). I'd guess Jennie or Mom and
Dad got me Trypnotyx (Funky D!). I'm pretty sure I bought
Jennie Father of the Bride (she was with me when I bought
it so it wasn't a big surprise).
That winter Father of the Bride was on on repeat. We'd
sing Big Blue to our cat. We'd play it while Matt was over
for dinner pre-jam-tuesday. Matt and I jammed on Sunflower
and This Life. Good times.
2020-??-??: Theo Katzman: Modern Johnny Sings: Song is in the Age of Vibe
I can't remember when I got this, but I'd guess sometime
2020 (could be Christmas, maybe from Matt?). This is a
great album full of songs Matt and I jammed to.
2019-12-??: Vulfpeck: Live at Madison Square Garden
This album was released in 2019-12 but I can't remember when
it actually arrived by mail. Its a super special one in our
collection because it's the only album featuring yours truly.
That's right: we were in the audience! So somewhere in those
call and response sections of Back Pocket you can hear us
belting. What a phenomenal show, too. Some track versions
(Running Away, My First Car, etc) are just so much better on
the live album.
2018-12-25: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Smash Hits
Matt definitely gave this to me for Christmas one year. I'm
guessing it was 2018 because I have a memory of dancing around
the living room one morning with Jennie in our old apartment
(which would have been early 2019, pretty sure it was to "Fire").
### The College Years:
My college music taste started out angsty and graduated
into a more refined taste / broader spectrum of artists
I was listening to. However, the records acquired during
college don't reflect that too much, in a good part
because for over half of college I didn't have my record
player with me (and records were low on the list of things
I wanted to spend money on)--the artists look a lot like
High School.
2018-??-??: Ripe: Joy in the Wild Unknown
Not sure when I got this (I think Jennie bought it?),
but I've been listening to Ripe since sophomore year of
college when a friend (Nick A) put it on during a dorm
party (this was the Hey Hello era--Talk to the Moon,
Brother Sky, Goon Squad, Caralee.. such a great album).
We went from casual listeners to big fans, seeing them
twice in Northhampton (once after college) and at Levitate
music festiaval. JitWU is a solid album (but Hey Hello
is still the most nostalgic).
I have a strong association between Ripe and walking around
campus. Specifically to my nutrition class senior year.
That and listening to their Audiotree session on repeat
(Ex-Life in particular) while recording robotics data for
my lab / thesus. What a throwback.
2018-??-??: Disney Classic Collection
A gift from Jennie, either for my birthday or Christmas.
I think because it contained "The Bear Necessities". I
love that song. So positive.
2017-12-25: Manchester Orchestra: A Black Mile to the Surface
Matt gifted this to me for Christmas one year (guessing
2017, since that was the release year). Manchester was
one of the bands I kept listening to from my high school
favorites. I always went to go see them when they came
to town (Matt and I have definitely been together a
couple times! I think we went on this tour)
2016-12-25: Boston: Boston
A gift from Matt for Christmas one year (guessing 2016).
I was super into Boston back in maybe middle school when
I had a CD player boom box in my room (the AC/DC era :))
2016-??-??: The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour
2016-??-??: American Football: II
Just guessing on the dates for these. This is by far
my favorite Beatles album (so many great songs). And
whats a record collection without The Beatles? American
Football II was OK, but not nearly as good as I.
2016-??-??: Owen: King of Whys
Cooper gifted this one to me--he had ordered it
and Amazon sent him an extra copy by accident! So this
makes the second "amazon messed up" album in my library.
(See "Neutral Milk Hotel" below)
2016-??-??: O'Brother: Endless Light
2016-??-??: Joyce Manor: Cody
Ah, Cody and Endless Light. These were the last albums
I was really into for both bands. Cody had "The Last
You Heard of Me", which I listened to a good bit.
Part of it might be that I met Jennie a few months
later and became a good bit happier in life :)
2016-??-??: The Dear Hunter: Act V
2015-??-??: The Dear Hunter: Act IV
Ah the Dear Hunter. A high school era band for sure.
I became a big fan in the course of days when Matt
Cooper invited me to see them for their one-night-only
Color Spectrum Live event in Boston. I had never heard
of them, but he was a fan and someone in their ticket
group had dropped out last minute. I heard the first
couple songs of Black at the back of the concert band
practice room on tinny iphone speakers and I decided in
that moment I'd go see them for the drummer alone.
The show didn't disappoint; 36 songs ranging from
industrial Black to classic-rocky Orange to happy Yellow
to country-like Green to sad Blue, etc.. it's a great
series to check out.
The Acts are a 5 part story about the dear hunter,
and I got pretty into both the story (being a fan for
the second half of it) and also the music. I remember
being in Virginia Beach with family when one of the first
tracks off Act IV dropped: A Night on the Town. Just
blown away by it. (That was also the summer I had
"Cough it Out" by Front Bottoms on repeat--must have
been 2015).
Act V definitely doesn't get as much love (although
Matt and I do a great rendition of Moon/Awake), but
Act IV became a surprise hit with Jennie years later.
We played a lot of the Scythe board game listening
to that :)
2015-??-??: Alabama Shakes: Sound and Color
I absolutely loved Sound and Color the second half of
freshman year. I distinctly remember driving around in
the final weeks of the semester with friends late at night
and putting on "The Greatest" on the red mini van aux.
Alabama Shakes came on my radar due to a bandmate in
the high school jazz band (Rex?) putting on "Hold On".
I remember being blown away by the performance (he
also introduced me to Julius by STRFKR and Late July
by Shakey Graves, both great songs). Sound and Color
is such a great album--I love pretty much every track
but "Gemini".
2015-??-??: Owen: L'ami du Peuple
2014-??-??: Owen: Ghost Town
I'm not sure when I got these Owen albums. Cooper
definitely introduced me to Owen (of American Football).
I don't remember ever really being into Ghost Town.
Maybe I ordered it since it was a chill album? Maybe a
gift? L'ami du Peuple I remember listening to a bit
sophomore year of college (the last two tracks get me
every time "Where do I begin" -> "Vivid Dreams").
2014-??-??: NRBQ: At Yankee Stadium
2014-??-??: Santana: Borboletta
I picked these up sometime early in college at a flea
market for very cheap (a couple bucks each). NRBQ was
the favorite band of a high school english teacher that
I really liked (so it was a fun find--Riding in my Car
is a great track!). Santana because.. well it's Santana!
I grew up listening to Santana, and this album isn't the
best but it was a name I recognized amongst the dusty
old record collection being sold :)
2014-10-??: Foxing: The Albatross
2014-??-??: Modern Baseball: You're Gonna Miss it All
I got to see MoBo live before they broke up and damn it
was one hell of a show. The crowd was so into it and
the venue was tiny, resulting in being constantly pushed
forward towards the stage and then pushed back, like
a human wave.
Foxing opened for them (which is how they came on my
radar), and they fit the angty freshman fall mood, so
I was into them for a hot second (talk about a well done
emotional performance! When the singer brought out the
trumpet... so good!).
2014-??-??: Joyce Manor: Self Titled
2014-??-??: Joyce Manor: Never Hungover Again
Ahh Joyce Manor. A coworker/friend of mine introduced me
to them during my lifeguard days at Walden Pond (Amanda, I
think). Kinda pop-punk-emo but much darker and almost
speed-punk with crazy short tracks. I couldn't get enough
of Never Hungover Again when it first came out fall semester
of college. Looking back, it was very much a phase.
### High School Era:
At this point, I'm really just guessing on these albums.
2014-??-??: Beck: Morning Phase
An odd pick amongst the others. Rolling Stone gave it
their album of the year and I was determined to like it.
It... somewhat worked. Not my favorite Beck album.
2014-??-??: Queens of the Stone Age: Like Clockwork
I remember buying Like Clockwork in Boston at a Newbury
Comics. I liked a few QotSA tracks in high school and
the album was new / well reviewed. I think my first
exposure to them was Rock Band / Guitar Hero at Kenzo's
house (3's and 7's?)
2013-??-??: O'Brother: Disillusion
2013-??-??: Cage the Elephant: Melophobia
Not much to say about Disillusion. Not my favorite O'brother
record but I was a big fan / supporter in high school.
Melophobia however, has really stood the test of time.
Cigarette Daydreams is a great jam tune, and the whole
album has a lot of tracks I love (Halo, Come a Little Closer,
and Hypocrite were some of my favorites in high school IIRC).
2013-??-??: Kevin Devine & The Goddamn Band: Bubblegum
2013-??-??: Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
This was a funny pair of records. I ordered KD&TGDB
from Amazon but received NMH instead! I had never heard
of the band, but a quick google showed this album was
legendary. It was $2 more expensive (I think 17 vs 19)
so I cancelled the return and re-ordered Bubblegum.
The first listen to was so funny though. I remember
putting it on, really digging King of Carrot Flowers pt 1,
then pt 2 comes in hard with the
"I LOVE YOU JESUS CHRIIIIIIST"
And I instantly turned it off and thought "what the hell
did I just listen to!". On a second listen-through, it
proved that powering through was well worth it :)
2013-??-??: Modern Baseball: Sports
I don't remember how I found MoBo (I think it was discovered
by me, not Cooper). But I remember picking up Sports at the
mall's Newbury Comics. It felt like a risky buy at the time
(I only knew "Tears over Beers"), but I _really_ liked that
track. I was not disappointed--I had it on repeat that winter.
2013-??-??: Bad Books: II
Bad Books II will forever be associated with my trip to Spain
in high school (I did a 2-3 week exchange, living with a family
there). I remember having "The After Party" and "Forest
Whitaker" on my ipod and feeling so cool. I have a cringe
memory of being in the back of the host-fathers car riding
somewhere (home from the airport?) with my host student and
discussing music and being all like "I'm into alternative
music you've probably never heard of" (but I said it in Spanish
so it was probably less hipster / obnoxious, right? :)). I
think I played him a track off Bad Books I.
Worth noting Bad Books is Manchester Orchestra + Kevin Devine.
So there's a lot of overlap here!
2013-??-??: O'Brother: Garden Window
2013-??-??: O'Brother: Death of Day
2013-??-??: American Football: American Football
2013-??-??: The Front Bottoms: Self Titled
2013-??-??: Into It. Over It.: PROPER
2013-??-??: Manchester Orchestra: Mean Everything to Nothing
2013-??-??: Caspian: Waking Season
The first wave of albums based on my taste included alternative
rock which ranged from really heavy (O'Brother) to pop-punk-emo
(Front Bottoms). Almost all of it was introduced to me by my
bandmate Cooper.
Caspian was my study music. American Football was relationship
angst at its finest (Never Meant is a gem).
Manchester Orchestra was a favorite. I remember bumping
"Shake it Out" and "I've Got Friends" in the computer lab
at school (maybe even all the way back to middle school?
Mean Everything was 2009, so I guess it checks out).
MO introduced me to O'Brother--I saw them open for MO (with
Cage the Elephant no less!) and I remember Ascension from Death
of Day just blowing me away live. I could feel the bass in my
stomach. I stopped listening to them after college (with a
brief revisiting when Endless Light came out), but Death of Day
was one of my top-5 high school albums.
The Front Bottoms were in the same scene as MO despite sounding
wildly different. I first heard them in the car on the way to
a school US History Debate, and Cooper put them on:
"You're gonna hate this at first, but then you're
gonna love it. His voice is so bad, but the songs
are so good"
And the rest is history. I've been listening to them off and on
throughout the years. They've been super impactful in helping
me garnish the courage to sing myself (if Brian can do it, so
can I!).
2013-??-??: The Clash: London Calling
2013-??-??: Paul Simon: Graceland
2013-??-??: XTC: Skylarking
2013-??-??: Peter Gabriel: So
2012-12-25: Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
My First Handful of records were classics picked by my parents
Kind of Blue gets a lot of play to this day (my dad picked it
out because "Jazz is the best to test speakers" among other
reasons)--great for brunch / mellow hosting. Graceland also
gets a good bit of play. In part for a while because it was
one of my few records that wasn't super obscure / in-your-face
music.
